Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Too Much Tim

Starting pitcher
M.C. O'Connor

The Link has pitched 7 innings or more in only 4 of his starts including tonight. With over 100 pitches thrown, I was surprised to see him start the 8th to face his 29th batter. But Tim, true to form, got the strikeout. Batters 30 and 31, the 3-4 hitters Hudson and Jackson, rapped singles and his night was done. A little better relief work by Tyler Walker and Tim gets charged with only one run, but that is nit-picking with six runs on the board. That's right, our gang tagged Dan Haren with the big fly twice, so Walker had some breathing room. In all, it was Too Much Tim. Bonehead tried to get too much out of him, but who can blame him? Tim was much too much for the best team in the division. The D-backs were at home in their cozy hitters' paradise with studly young Dan on the mound and they got whipped by our whippersnapper. They got whiffed, they hit pop-ups and short-of-the-warning-track flyballs, and they broke their bats grounding out. I loved that sequence in the 7th: leadoff double after a six-pitch battle, then 3 outs on 4 pitches. That "slam the door" routine probably convinced Bonehead to let the Arm They Call The Franchise throw a few more probably unnecessary pitches. Tonight, he simply outpitched an established ace, dominated one of the best lineups in the game, and snapped our losing streak. Lincecum's consistency is most impressive, especially considering he's only got 34 major league games under his belt--a year's worth of starts. You just expect him to do well and by golly he does. 10 starts: 1, 2, 0, 0, 3, 0, 2, 3, 3, 3 ER allowed.

Tonight we conclude our experiment here at RMC: henceforth the good Doctor, JCP, will return as The Linkman, and yer man here, MC, will be back on the MC wagon.

I'm afraid to say what I'm thinking about Lincecum, considering the results of my recent prediction of superstardom for Merkin Valdez. Let's just say I'm hoping to retire my standby bromide about there being no such thing as a great SF Giants pitcher. I had high hopes for Schmidt, and he was excellent for quite a while, but didn't sustain it enough to qualify for greatness. Who before that? Burkett and Swift had their twin 20 win seasons, but that was just a nice fluke. I used to be wild about Montefusco, but half of that was based on his hot personality. Then we get into ancient history, with McCormick, Perry, Marichal, etc.Anyway, like I said, I'm predicting nothing for Tim, because I'd blame myself if he falls short.Meanwhile, let's give it up for Benjie Molina. Is he hot or what?

That is one sweet season! Interestingly, this year's whip is the same as his career. His BAA is .007 higher this year, but his era is a full run lower. The bad news is that his pitches/game is up to 106.5.

It was a little surprising that Tim went out in the 8th. He did have a couple extra days rest. What a pity that Walker immediately gives up a double and a wild pitch to add two more runs to Tim's line. Relief pitcher's era is a nearly meaningless stat.

He is clearly at peak value. Moving him now would send a clear message that we are rebuilding (we are, aren't we?). Who cares if we lose 105 games without Molina...we are going to lose 100 WITH him. Is there really a difference?

We are terrified of building around young pitchers without veteran who "calls a good game." Bengie will stay. A few years back we shipped out our only legit young catcher (Yorvit) after we got AJ Pureshitski. Yorvit's lifetime OPS is .695 vs. Molina's .727, and Bengie plays almost every day, while Yorvit has played over 100 games in a season only once. Is there someone down in the minors we don't know about? In Sabean-world, Bengie's batting display will get him an extension, not a trade.

Winn is trade bait. We should shop Winn so we can give Schierholz a shot.

I do not think it really matters if we have a prospect at catcher or any spot. We only have two untouchables (Cain and Lincecum)everybody else should be available at all times. We need TALENT and lots of it. I know this isn't how Sabean currently thinks, however in August when it is obvious that we can't win, that will be the mind-set. Why wait? Bengie won't be worth squat in another two months. Winn and Roberts both must GO!!!

There was an article about this in the Chronicle yesterday - a weird, weird article. If I can get my fatigued little mind around it, I may post something about it. In summation, whether or not we trade guys so we have a future hope of being less than putrid depends on how many tickets we sell because Rich Aurilia is helping us win now. Sort of. I think Harry Shulman may be about to leave for the National Enquirer.

Crazy idea to trade Molina. I love him.I actually looked up some stats, and it's clear that Sanchez is better than Cain, at least so far this season. Won/loss, ERA, BB/SO, Sanchez has a slim edge in every category. The best stat is that the team is 8-3 when he pitches, identical to Wonderboy Timmy.